The review, published in the journal Nutrition, found the vitamin improved serum biochemical parameters and hepatic histology in NAFLD/NASH, especially for adult NASH patients. It also improved hepatic fibrosis, inflammation and ballooning.
The researchers from the Aichi Medical University in Japan hoped the paper would help improve evidence levels for clinical guidelines on NAFLD/NASH.
With the increase in global obesity and metabolic syndrome prevalence, they called NAFLD one of the most important global public health issues of the 21st century.
NAFLD is a term used to describe liver diseases involving hepatic steatosis – or fatty change – without excessive alcohol intake and includes a wide range of liver diseases from simple fatty change to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH causes liver cirrhosis – scarring of the liver and subsequent loss of function due to long-term damage – and may develop into hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer.
Dutch supplements company DSM, which recently held a webinar on the subject of vitamin E and fatty liver disease, said it welcomed the findings.
Dr Manfred Eggersdorfer, senior vice president of nutrition science and advocacy for the firm and healthy ageing professor at the University Medical Center Groningen, said: “This meta-analysis will assist the medical community in better assessing the benefits of vitamin E in treating NAFLD/NASH, which could be used to help establish more accurate clinical guidelines for practitioners.”
Source: Nutrition
Vol. 31, Iss. 7–8, pp 923–930, doi:10.1016/j.nut.2014.11.018
“Vitamin E has a beneficial effect on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials”
Authors: K. Sato, M. Gosho, T. Yamamoto, Y. Kobayashi, N. Ishii, T. Ohashi, Y. Nakade, K. Ito, Y. Fukuzawa, M. Yoneda